Many good stories start in a bar, and Australian filmmaker David Hansen’s short film “Slingshot” — a finalist in TheWrap’s ShortList Film Festival — originated when he observed an English couple at a pub in Spain.
“They were maybe mid-50s, late-50s and they just started getting it on like they were in their 20s just pashing [Australian slang for making out] and giggling and getting drunk,” Hansen told TheWrap.
“I started spinning this idea in my head of the entire journey of a relationship,” he said, “from a courtship, to one person pursuing the other a little bit more, to a romance, to an infidelity, to a break-up, then the threat of lawyers.”
Hansen’s twist was to use child actors and tell a story of first love while still peppering “Slingshot” with conversation ordinarily reserved for grown-ups — including issues of trust and the threat of lawyers.
“First, I need to know if I can trust you,” 10-year-old Tayla (Natasha Thompson) tells her new beau of two minutes, Frankie (Ruaumoko Toatoa).
Upon their break-up, she tells her “ex-husband” that they have to go to court and “promise to hate each other forever now.”
The idea, Hansen said, was to suggest how kids absorb the effects of divorce and other serious adult matters. “These are lines that your average 12-year-old would not be throwing around unless they were exposed to similar situations at home,” he said.
Although the film was influenced by the couple at the bar, Hansen also drew on his recollections of his own parents’ divorce when he was a child.
“All of that background informed the deep themes of this film,” he said. “I was very young when it happened to my parents, but I do remember it and it was also big and serious and I guess there needed to be a process of being able to look back at the humor of it.”
“Slingshot” depicts the entire cycle of a relationship in less than seven minutes through the artful use of concise and to-the-point conversation.
“It’s the craft of dialogue and the interplay with its action that gets it all rolling so fast and smoothly and organically,” Hansen said.
Watch the film above. Viewers can also screen the films at any time during the festival at Shortlistfilmfestival.com and vote from Aug. 9-23.
The Men of Indie Summer: From Freakish to Infatuated (Photos)
The men in this summer's slate of indie films are far from ordinary: Colin Farrell stars as a neurotic in the wonderfully weird romantic comedy "The Lobster" and Daniel Radcliffe is a dead guy in "Swiss Army Man." A young Barack Obama is depicted in "Southside with You" and then there is the lovestruck Jesse Eisenberg in "Café Society."
Click through to see more from The Men of Indie Summer:
A24
Daniel Radcliffe plays a dead man come back to life in the mind of a stranded man (Paul Dano) in the surreal "Swiss Army Man." The adventurous comedy, also with Mary Elizabeth Winstead, debuts in theaters July 1.
A24
Men in this summer's indies are also unafraid to share the screen in female-focused films. Take Ethan Hawke in "Maggie's Plan." He's the married man being bounced around between Greta Gerwig and Julianne Moore. It opens in select theaters May 20.
Sony Pictures Classics
Stephen Fry (center) and Xavier Samuel (left) appear in "Love & Friendship," in select theaters now. Based on the Jane Austen novel, the matchmaking-themed comedy stars Kate Beckinsale and Chloë Sevigny and is an absolute hit with critics, earning a 100 percent Rotten Tomatoes score.
Roadside Attractions
"The Lobster" has won raves from critics, featuring Colin Farrell as a nervous man tasked with finding love -- or else he'll turn into the animal of his choosing. The unconventional rom-com, also with Rachel Weisz, John C. Reilly and Ben Whishaw, is out now in select theaters.
A24
Jesse Eisenberg stars opposite frequent collaborator Kristen Stewart in Woody Allen's "Café Society," opening in select theaters July 15. In spite of the Cannes Film Festival controversy surrounding Allen, the 1930s-era romantic comedy, also with Blake Lively and Steve Carell, has earned a warm 72 percent Rotten Tomatoes score.
Lionsgate
Parker Sawyers proves a strong resemblance in silhouette and mannerism to a pre-presidential Barack Obama, depicted in "Southside with You." The film, in theaters Aug. 26, retraces the first date of the future president and first lady (played by Tika Sumpter) as they traverse the southside of Chicago. And yes, critics like it a lot.
Miramax
Chris Pine, Ben Foster, and Jeff Bridges star in the Texas-set crime drama "Hell or High Water," about two brothers who hatch a risky plan to save their family's farm. It's set to open Aug. 12.
CBS Films
Forget "Little Women" and get out to see "Little Men," a small-budget comedy with Alfred Molina and Greg Kinnear. The story centers two friends (boys played by newcomers Theo Taplitz and Michael Barbieri) whose parents battle over a dress shop lease. It opens in select theaters Aug. 5.
Magnolia Pictures
1 of 9
Small films this summer show men in new light: farcical Colin Farrell, pre-presidential Obama on a date, more
The men in this summer's slate of indie films are far from ordinary: Colin Farrell stars as a neurotic in the wonderfully weird romantic comedy "The Lobster" and Daniel Radcliffe is a dead guy in "Swiss Army Man." A young Barack Obama is depicted in "Southside with You" and then there is the lovestruck Jesse Eisenberg in "Café Society."
Click through to see more from The Men of Indie Summer: